Search

There was big news in the golfing world this week when a player called Louis Oosthuizen pulled off something called an albatross in the US Masters.

Now this would have impressed me far more if 1) I knew what it was 2) I knew who he was and 3) I was even remotely interested in golf.

But since this blog project is all about expanding my knowledge base this year I decided to rectify at least the first question.

And the answer is – an albatross is a three under par score on an individual hole, with par being the number of shots a player is expected/allowed to sink the ball in the hole. Other golfing measures include birdie for one under par, eagle for two under par and bogey for one over par.

You can read more about the history and naming of golfing conventions at the USGA Museum, but here’s a starting point from the site’s FAQ…

How did the terms birdie and eagle come into golf?
The term birdie originated in the United States in 1899. HB Martin’s Fifty Years of American Golf contains an account of a foursomes match played at the Atlantic City (N.J.) CC. One of the players, Ab Smith relates, “My ball… came to rest within six inches of the cup. I said ’That was a bird of a shot… I suggest that when one of us plays a hole in one under par he receives double compensation.’ The other two agreed and we began right away, just as soon as the next one came, to call it a birdie.” In 19th-century American slang, ’bird’ referred to anyone or anything excellent or wonderful. By analogy with birdie, the term eagle soon thereafter became common to refer to a score one better than a bird. Also by analogy, the term albatross stands for double eagle — an even bigger eagle!

So there you have it, apparently golf is all about the birds. Insert Tiger Woods joke here.